Rising From the Ashes
by chang-raeleeismyhero
Summary: Harry finally defeated Voldemort, but at what cost? Ficlet, after 7th year. H/Hr.


A/N: This kind of hit me one day when I was sitting at the computer wondering what to do. Hope you like it.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
A young wizard crept along through the forest. He couldn't see much except the menacing shadows that surrounded him on all sides.   
  
This was not his first time in the dark and forbidding forest. No, he had been there many times before. This particular circumstance was different, however.  
  
This time, he was searching for the one thing that had always found him.   
  
Lord Voldemort.  
  
The most feared dark wizard to ever grace the earth, who had been after Harry Potter ever since that fateful night almost 17 years ago.  
  
The night in which he had been destroyed by a simple, helpless baby. Inexplicably, yet efficiently.  
  
The young wizard reached out a hand to steady himself against one of the massive trees that lined his path. His unruly raven hair hanging in his eyes and a lack of the glasses he usually wore further hindered his sight.  
  
Panic began to race through his blood as he realized he had no idea where he was. Harry Potter was lost. Lost in the Forbidden Forest.   
  
Voldemort had lured him in when in the midst of their duel, he had turned and run, straight in among the silent giants of the forest trees, leaving Harry shocked. Not thinking enough to stop and ponder why the great Dark Lord had run from a fight, Harry had run blindly after him.  
  
Now unsure where to go, Harry felt his way along. As he made his way, he had the distinct feeling someone was behind him.  
  
Turning swiftly with his wand held at the ready, he found no one.   
  
Then from the direction he had been going came a blood-curdling scream. Harry turned back the other way and ran forward. Not caring anymore about what he would encounter, he slashed through the thick foliage.  
  
He stopped a short time later, thinking he should have already found the source. This time the scream was much closer, and he could tell it was a woman. Fear gripped him as he realized who was screaming. He turned frantically in a new direction, trying to find exactly where Hermione was being kept.  
  
Finally, breathing hard and pumped full of adrenaline, Harry burst through to a small clearing. Several feet away, Hermione sat bound on the hard forest floor. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she seemed to be trying to communicate something to Harry. She was nodding her head just beyond his shoulder. Relieved only that he had found her alive, Harry ignored whatever she was trying to tell him and went directly to her.  
  
Harry knelt down beside Hermione and raised his wand to mutter the spell, which would undo the bonds. Just as he had uttered the word, he heard a shuffling footstep behind him. He made to turn, but Hermione threw herself at him. She wrapped him in a fierce hug. Harry, caught off guard, returned the hug with equal intensity.   
  
Almost inaudibly he heard her whisper in his ear, "I love you." She pulled back only slightly before she crushed her lips against his. It was short, but it was enough for both of them. Confirmation of the feelings each had kept secret for some time.   
  
And then Harry felt the presence behind him again, and he knew Hermione had thought they would not survive this.  
  
His arms hung at his sides, ready to retrieve his wand whenever it became necessary.  
  
A cold, raspy voice floated from Voldemort's mouth.   
  
"Ah, young love. So naïve. Just like your poor mother and father..." He paused for a moment. "This time... I think I'll start with her." He paused again. "You see, I'll enjoy the expression on your face when you realize she's gone."  
  
As he spoke, Voldemort had raised his wand, but Harry had been busy as well. His wand was now firmly in his hand and at the ready.  
  
"AVAD-"  
  
"STUPEFY!" Harry poured all of his love for Hermione into the spell. It was the only thing that came to his mind as he stood up, ready to stop Voldemort at all cost.  
  
The spell hit with hundreds of times it's usual force. Voldemort was knocked off his feet.   
  
He lay there, not moving. Afraid it was fake, that Voldemort was fine, Harry approached wand out.  
  
Voldemort's eyes were wide and staring. They had rolled back into his head, keeping only a small portion of black still visible. With a trembling hand, Harry reached out to check the Muggle way that Voldemort was truly dead. No pulse was detectable in the pale, thin neck.  
  
Harry crawled back to Hermione, and slumped in relief and exhaustion at her side. "He's dead. He's really dead."  
  
As the world went black for Harry, the last image he saw was of Hermione, leaning down to give him another kiss.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"Oh, honestly, maybe I should just quit! No one ever listens! For the past four days I have been telling everyone to get out and let Mr. Potter sleep in peace. Please. Leave!"  
  
Harry smiled at hearing this tirade from Madame Pomfrey. It may not have been the first thing he wanted to hear most after four days of sleep, but it provided comfort in normalcy.   
  
"I think he's waking up, Poppy. Do you mind leaving us for a few moments?" inquired Dumbledore's warm voice.  
  
"Only a few? Only a few! Only, ONLY a few. Then he MUST get some more rest. Oh, what do these people think! You'd think getting well depended on talking, not rest..." Her indignant mumbling could be heard as she trailed away down the infirmary.  
  
"How are you feeling Harry?"  
  
Finally, Harry forced his eyes open to look up at Dumbledore.  
  
"Like I was run over by the Knight Bus."  
  
Dumbledore softly chuckled at Harry's words. "I would imagine so." He quickly sobered however.   
  
Noting the sad look in the headmaster's eyes, Harry asked, "Is Hermione all right?"  
  
Dumbledore looked to the door, toward which he nodded his head. Hermione came running in.  
  
"Oh, Harry! I was so worried! You're all right! After Ron-" She bent down to give him a kiss.  
  
She pulled away shortly after, looked at Dumbledore, and blushed slightly. His eyes twinkled briefly in their trademark way before he once again grew serious.  
  
"You're a grown wizard now, Harry. You've just left Hogwarts as a student, and you've managed to defeat Voldemort, fulfilled the prophesy. And now I'm afraid I have to ask you to be strong again."  
  
Harry looked up at Hermione, who was now clutching his hand so tightly he couldn't feel, and saw tears in her eyes. He looked back to Dumbledore.  
  
"I'm sorry Harry, but you're friend Ron is dead. He died trying to keep Voldemort from taking Hermione."  
  
Shocked, Harry stared at the old headmaster. In an odd train of thought, he noticed for the first time the large amount of new wrinkles that had crowded their way onto the old wizard's face over the last few years. He felt tears from Hermione hit his hand, and seep between their clutched hands.  
  
A tear slowly dripped from one of his eyes as the realization that another person he had known had died in the path of Voldemort's need for revenge. Another person he had loved and cared for. He looked again at Hermione and realized how close he had come to losing her as well. And without ever knowing how much she loved him in return.   
  
He gave her hand a soft squeeze. She looked into his eyes and could tell exactly what he was thinking.  
  
Dumbledore left silently, leaving the two to their grief.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
One year later...  
  
"Harry, Dear, let me help you with that." Mrs. Weasley came bustling into the room where Harry was getting ready for his wedding. She reached for the clasp on the cloak he wore and began to fasten it.  
  
"You look so handsome. Kind of like what I imagined Ron would look like at his wedding... Except with red hair of course." She gave a little laugh, though it was obviously still painful for her to talk about the son she had lost.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Oh, now, don't you be sorry. And don't ever think I blame you for what happened. That's just the way things worked out. Meant to be, I suppose. Oh, look at me, getting all worked up. Today's supposed to be happy, for everyone. I don't want to go ruin it with my blubbering." She pulled a handkerchief from her many-pocketed apron and dabbed at her eyes.  
  
"Oh, I'd better go check on things! We don't want anything to go wrong, now, do we?" She gave a pat to Harry's shoulder and left before he could say a thing. He gave a small smile at the room in general as he turned to look in the mirror.  
  
"Might want to tame that hair a bit, don't you think? It is your wedding, after all." The mirror's comment reminded Harry so strongly of something Ron would say he almost turned to look. Ignoring the mirror's comment on his hair, he turned away, satisfied with what he saw.   
  
He looked around the room once more, briefly remembering all the good times that had passed between Ron and him through the years. Preserved in memorial, Ron's room looked much as it did when Ron was alive; quidditch posters plastered across the walls and ceilings, school trunk in the corner.   
  
Harry sighed, wishing his friend could be here to share this special day. He silently told Ron how much he missed him. He turned to leave the room where he had spent part of his childhood, going down to meet his future.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
"You may kiss the bride."  
  
Harry and Hermione leaned towards each other and shared a kiss just as sweet, but more leisurely than their first.  
  
Deafening applause rose to greet them as they turned to the crowd as husband and wife. They walked back down the aisle, heading toward their new lives.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
A/N: Well, that's it folks. Please leave a review if you are so inclined. It'll make my day! I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, etc... But really, what kind of delusional freak would I be if I thought I did? 


End file.
